CAGED System: Patterns of C-Major Scale (With Note Names)

Charts to help you learn the CAGED system and its 5 patterns for guitar.

Each of the 5 shapes will produce a full C-Major scale when you play it. The circles have scale note names of the C-Major scale. Root tones have a stronger visual emphasis to provide soloing landmarks and a better overview of the shape's primary "anchor points" to help you memorize and internalize all 5 patterns. One of the diagrams additionally highlights all root triad's chord tones to help you target them when soloing. All diagrams are isolated from one another to let you focus on just a single pattern at a time.

Pro tip: the shapes are identical for all major keys. For example, to get CAGED patterns for the G-Major scale you just need to align the E-shape's (pattern 1) root tone with the 3rd fret of the lowest 6th string.

CAGED patterns are always ordered as the CAGED-word is spelled. So for our G-Major example the next shape towards the guitar's bridge would be D-shape, and the previous shape towards the guitar's nut would be the G-shape. The notes will be different though as opposed to what's shown on the diagrams, e.g. for the E-shape the root tone will be note G; the next note will be A, and so on.